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“No,” she quietly agrees. “Not like yours, but…” A long inhale tells me she’s working up to something. “I know what it’s like to make a reckless decision that ends up having long-term consequences you never intended.”
“What do you mean?” I ask.
“Nevermi—”
“Amber,” I plead. “If you really don’t want to keep going, I understand, believe me, I understand, but I’d like to know what you were going to say.”
She blows out a breath then speaks to the floor. “I spent my whole college career focused on my studies. I had my eye on graduate school, and I refused to get distracted. While other people went to parties, I went to the library. All the effort paid off, because by the time I started my last semester I’d already been accepted to grad school. I had my housing, financial aid, and scholarships lined up. After my last final I decided to celebrate. I went out, drank way too much, and hooked up with some guy I’d never met.”
“I call that a typical Friday night,” Dixie quips.
“Yeah, except the condom fairy didn’t visit me that night and now…” She reaches into her purse, digs into the drugstore bag, and tosses a pill bottle onto my comforter.
I read the label upside down. Vitamins. P-r-e-n-a-t-a-l vitamins. What the what?
“Holy shit.” Dixie takes a step back, her focus dropping to Amber’s stomach. “You’re pregnant?”
My gaze zooms there, too, while my thoughts scatter like leaves in a windstorm. Finally, I catch one. “Did you tell the father?”
“I don’t know who he is. We didn’t exchange names.” She covers her face with her hands. “I have a vague memory of long, dark hair and a goatee, but that might be Captain Morgan. I went to the bar with my roommate. She says we parted ways around midnight, and I stumbled into our apartment around two. Were it not for the Uber charge I wouldn’t even know how I got home.”
“Are you going to—” Dixie breaks off, and then starts again. “It’s totally your decision, and I make no judgments, but are you going to keep—”
“I’m having the baby,” she whispers. “What happens from there, I haven’t decided yet, but I have some time to weigh those options.” She drops her hands, and I can see the resolve in the set of her chin. “That’s why I can’t go home. My mom and stepdad wouldn’t understand. Being pregnant outside of marriage goes against their beliefs. I’m an adult and this is my call, but”—she lifts a shoulder and lets it fall—“I shouldn’t live under their roof if I’m not prepared to abide by their rules.”
“You don’t have to explain,” Dixie says. “I moved out of my mom’s house the minute I turned eighteen. So they don’t know?”
“Not yet. I’ve told only Aunt Sally, who immediately insisted I spend the summer here.” She glances at Dixie and then me. “And now you two.”
Dixie crouches until she’s eye level with Amber. “Whatever you need, you know you’re not in this alone, right? You’ve got Aunt Sally, Uncle Jack…”
“And us,” I add, placing my hand over Amber’s fist.
“And us,” Dixie agrees, and stacks her hand on mine.
